Made For Each Other
by M. K. Slade
Summary: Rewritten first chapter. Ron finally realizes his true feelings for Hermione. Will he tell her? Or will one of them find someone else? previous pen name drummergrl427
1. Lost in Thought

Author's Note: I plan to re write this entire fic (all four chapters) simply because it sticks.

Disclaimer: Of course, I own nothing for without the wonderful workings of J.K. Rowling, this plot, theses characters and the story itself would not exsist. This is for pure entertainment's sake.

Chapter One

**Lost in Thought**

Dropping his head back onto his pillow, Ron sighed. It was yet another beautiful summer day and instead of being outside playing Qudditch, or even de-gnoming the garden as his mother had asked him to, he was lying on his bed. He'd spent practically the whole summer inside, either confining himself to his room, or playing chess with Ginny. He preferred it this way. Playing chess didn't require him to speak, and when he was in his room, he didn't have to deal with anyone. When he was alone, he didn't have to talk to anyone about 'it', which was really the last thing that he wanted to do. His family? No, they were all too busy with their own lives and his parents were going through enough with traveling back and forth to the Order. Truthfully, Ron was rather glad that he and his family weren't living at Number 12 Grimmauld Place again this summer. He wouldn't be able to walk around that house after what had happened with Sirius. Without it's owner, the house just wouldn't feel the same.

Then again, living at Grimmauld Place would most likely mean that Harry and Hermione would be living with them as well. Although Ron would love to see his two best friends, he wasn't quite sure whether or not he would like living with them just yet. It wasn't the fact that he didn't _want_ to see them, but Ron just didn't think that he could handle seeing Harry. He knew it sounded rather selfish, but he was pretty sure Harry was feeling the same way about him. He felt so sorry for him, and completely hopeless because he couldn't do anything about the pain he knew his best friend was feeling. He'd seemed much better when they'd parted, but Ron doubted that he was still all right. With all his free time, Harry must be dying on the inside. Ron knew what it was like to have nothing to do to take your mind off things and he also knew that Harry was having one hundred times worse of a summer than he was. Living with those awful Muggles must be hard enough, but day after day having to cope with the fact that his Godfather was gone must be unbearable. First his parents died, and now this? How the bloody hell could he live with it?

And Hermione? Normally it would have been much easier for Ron to talk to her about something like this, but now he knew that things would be different. Of course, they had a good enough friendship to be able to talk to each other, but it was different now. He knew it wasn't the same way with Hermione, but for him, their whole relationship had changed. All summer he had been thinking back to that night in the Ministry, where it had all started.

X-x-X-x-X-x-**Flashback**-x-X-x-X-x-X

_Ron crawled across the cold, dirty floor of the room, looking for his sister and his friends so that he could show them the tank of brains again. _

"_Loony!" He called, starting to giggle again, "Loony Lovegood, where are you?"_

_He continued to pull himself across the floor, as he approached the shadowed area in front of him. Ahead he could see a dark shape lying on the floor, but couldn't quite make out what it was._

"_What is that?" he said as the giggles continued._

_As he crawled closer, he could tell that the thing was a body. He pulled up to the body, but couldn't quite see who or what it was. Once his eyes adjusted to the dark, there was no mistake as to who was sprawled out in front of him. The remains of whatever spell that had hit him vanished. He was no longer laughing._

"_Hermione!" he groaned._

_He pushed away a piece of her bushy hair to reveal her pale, cold face. He gently shook her shoulders trying to rouse her._

"_Hermione!" he kept shouting, "Hermione please wake up!"_

_He knew it was no use. It was obvious that she had been hit by some type of curse and was now unconscious. He felt a searing pain in his heart, as she remained immobilized. He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but his face was uncomfortably hot, there was a large lump in his throat and he could hardly breathe. The only other time he could ever remember feeling even half like this was almost three years ago, when the basilisk had petrified Hermione. _

_That was when it finally hit him. He, Ron Weasley was in love with Hermione Granger, one of his best friends. For some reason, he knew that he had felt this way for a long time, but he had never quite admitted it to himself. But as he kneeled there next to her unconscious body, he knew that it was true and he knew that when she woke up he had to tell her how he felt._

_That he loved her._

X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X-x-X

Of course, Ron had never told her. He'd never even come close to doing so. Every time he had approached her, he would just start talking about Harry, and he knew that was a topic that they could have a long conversation about. After the school year had ended, he'd tried what felt like hundreds of times to write his feelings for her in a letter. Only it turned out he wasn't the romantic type. His head turned towards the wastebasket next to his desk, which was filled to the rim with his pathetic attempts at love letters. He'd tried the casual approach 'Dear Hermione, there's something I've been meaning to tell you.' Then he'd tried more of a romantic method 'Dearest Hermione…' but as soon as he'd tried that one, he crumpled it up and tossed it in the basket. No matter how many different ways he'd tried to write it out, the words never seemed right, or good enough for her. He knew that the whole thing was pointless.

Ron groaned. How could he have done this? How could he have fallen for his best friend? As if things weren't bad enough already, he had to make it even more confusing. But he knew that he couldn't do anything about it. There wasn't anyway he could change his feelings for her.

The smell of frying bacon rose into his room. Perhaps a few sandwiches would be able to take his mind off things. Ron slowly rolled off of his bed and was about to leave when he heard a quiet tapping behind him. Turning around, he found his owl Pig fluttering outside. Ron opened the window to let him inside. The tiny owl dropped a letter on his bed and continued to buzz excitedly around the room. Pig was obviously very proud of himself for delivering a letter. Ignoring the annoying bird, Ron tore open the parchment and sat down to read it. His heart gave a small leap as he recognized the tidy scrawl.

"Ron-

Sorry it's taken so long to reply to your last letter. Things seem to be so hectic around here, although not much is going on. It's a bit ironic, really.I try my hardest, but no matter what I can't stop thinking about that night in the Ministry and I spend most of my time worrying about Harry, although that's nothing strange for either of us. I'm eager for someone to talk to, but I kept my promise to Dumbledore about not telling my parents. He's right; they would be much too worried for me. They think that the wizard world is dangerous enough and I can't imagine what they would think when they found out the most powerful Dark wizard was out on the loose. I hope that when I arrive there, things between us won't be as awkward as they are in our letters. Don't try to deny it; you know that it's true. I'm sure Ginny has already told you that she has invited me to spend the rest of the summer with you and your family. My parents have agreed to it and I should be arriving in a few days- five to be exact. I do hope that we will be able to talk when I get there. I may still want to, but I can't keep that night trapped in my mind, and neither can you.

Love,

Hermione"

Ron finished the letter with a look of uttermost shock. Hermione was coming the Burrow in only five days? The girl he had been thinking of all summer was waiting anxiously to see him and to talk to him. He couldn't believe it. Skimming through the letter he saw 'I'm sure Ginny has already told you…' and his shock quickly turned to anger and he leaped out of his chair and ran downstairs, the letter still clutched in his hand.

"Ginny!" he bellowed as he stormed into the kitchen.

"What?" she asked as she turned around from the table "I didn't do anything!" she added as a reflex.

"You didn't do anything, eh? Why didn't you tell me you invited Hermione over here? I had to find out from her!" he roared, as he shook the letter in his hand.

Ginny just stared at him. "God, I didn't know I had to check with you before I invited my friends over!"

"She's _my_ friend Ginny!" Ron yelled, his ears beginning to turn pink from his boiling anger.

Mrs. Weasley turned from the stove to stare at Ron as well. "Ron what is going on? You've been acting oddly enough all summer, but now you're just being over-dramatic."

Fred and George, who had been listening in the other room, walked in.

"I know what it is mum." George said as he leaned against the doorway, clearly amused by the scene.

"Well?" said Mrs. Weasley impatiently.

"It looks like ickle Ronniekins has a little crush!" Fred teased in a baby voice.

"I do not!" Ron yelled as his cheeks burning bright red, "I'd just like to know more than five days ahead when _my_ friends are coming over!"

"Why, so you can fix your hair?" George asked.

"Shut up!" Ron yelled, and forgetting about lunch, ran back up the stairs. He slammed his bedroom door as loudly as it would allow attempting to make a statement, although he wasn't sure whether or not his family would hear it all the way in the kitchen. He slid down onto the ground and began to continuously bang the back of his head against the door, but soon regretted it once it began to throb.


	2. Hugs and Happiness

Chapter Two: Hugs and Happiness  
  
The next five days went by really slowly for Ron. He was either torturing himself about what he was going to say when Hermione came, or being tortured by Fred and George. He tried as hard as he could to stay less distant from his family like he had been before. He hoped that now no one would tell Hermione about his previous behavior. He didn't want her to pity him.  
The day Hermione was due to arrive, Ron could do nothing to hide his nervousness. Instead of sleeping in late as he always did, he got up very early. When breakfast was ready all he did was nibble absentmindedly at a few pieces of toast.  
Worried about her son's behavior, Mrs. Weasley was constantly asking him if he felt all right.  
"I'm fine mum." He kept answering. Finally he got up to go upstairs.  
"I'm just gunna start my homework." he said sounding distant.  
"He must be really sick." Ginny said.  
Ron swore at himself as he sat down at his desk. He felt like he was going to throw up. He stared down at the work that he had been assigned for the summer. He tried to concentrate on it, but soon found it impossible.   
"Hermione!" Ginny screeched as her friend walked out of the fireplace, covered in soot. She embraced her in an enormous hug.  
"OoOof." Hermione grunted, but hugged her back. Ginny finally let her go. "It's great to see you Gin! Floo travel is a lot messier than I remembered." She said as she attempted to wipe the soot off of her robes.  
Ginny laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that, we just figured it would be the easiest way for you to get here."  
"Oh it's no problem, I'm just glad to be here." Hermione replied as she pulled her heavy trunk out of the fireplace.  
"Hermione, dear. I thought I heard you come in." Mrs. Weasley said as she walked into the kitchen. She too brought Hermione into a tight hug. "It's so good to have you here."  
"And what a relief it is to be around witches and wizards who understand what I'm going through." Hermione said. There was a pregnant pause.  
"Hey, Hermione." a quiet voice broke the awkward silence. Hermione turned around and grinned at the site of her best friend, leaning at the end of the staircase.  
"Ron!" she exclaimed.  
Ron gave her a simple, half smile and looked down at his feet.  
"Oh come off it, Ron. We've been friends for almost six years and you can't even give me a hug?"  
Ron looked up at her and smiled. She stood on the tips of her toes and wrapped her arms around him. If it was possible, he had grown even more over the past month and a half, but something else was different. His usual dangly self seemed to have filled out more, and now he seemed to fit himself better. Ron breathed in the smell of her hair, and tightened his embrace.  
"It's good to see you." she whispered in his ear.  
"You too." he whispered back.  
"Well, isn't that sweet?" a jesting voice rang out behind them. "Two friends, two Gryffindors, two prefects, one undying lo-"Fred was cut off by Ginny.  
"Shut it, the both of you." She turned to Ron. "Ron, help me with her trunk, will you?"  
"Now Ginny, where would our hospitality be if we didn't help our wonderful guest?" George asked "Locomotor trunk!" He and Fred magiked the trunk up the stairs. "Ginny's room I presume."  
Hermione laughed, she couldn't help it. She'd missed the Weasleys so much. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad summer after all.  
Ron grinned. Just the sight of Hermione filled his heart with happiness. Maybe this wasn't going to be such a bad summer after all.   
  
Author's Note A special thanks to ALL my reviewers, thanks so much! Much love to loudnproud223... thanks for making this chapter possible! Lol. Next chapter very soon, it'll be short though. Sorry! 


	3. Walking and Talking

Chapter Three: Walking and Talking  
  
That night, after dinner, Hermione walked up to Ron and asked him if he wanted to go for a walk. They stepped out into the beautiful summer night, feeling the grass softly tickle their bare feet and sat down on an old wooden bench underneath a nearby tree. They sat in silence for a while, until Hermione finally spoke.  
  
"Oh, Ron." she said as a silent tear fell down her face. "This is just so hard for me. I mean I've just been shutting out the rest of the world. There was no one to talk to. I just stayed up in my room all summer. M-my parents think I'm mentally sick or something."  
  
"Yeah, I know." Ron said, "I couldn't even talk to Ginny and she was...there."  
  
"I feel like such a prat though. Here I am, worrying about myself, when Harry's the one who was affected most by that night. I mean he has no one... well, except for us. And we've never really talked much about how he feels; if he really is ok. Have you talked to him yet? I mean, he's been returning my letters, but they're always so short and all he ever says is 'I'm fine', or ' Don't worry about it.' But that's all I do is worry!" Hermione sobbed.  
  
"Shhh... Hermione, it's ok. Don't feel selfish about anything, alright? All you've ever done is support Harry and been his friend when he needed you. And that's exactly what he needs now. I think the next time we see him... we should just act as if none of this has happened. I'm sure it'd be best for him." At this point, Ron's arm was around Hermione's shoulders, and her head was rested on his chest. He prayed that she couldn't hear his rampaging heartbeat.  
  
Hermione sniffled as she wiped a tear from her cheek and said, "You're right, Ron. But I'm still just so sc-scared!" More tears began to roll down her cheeks.  
  
Ron sighed. It wasn't an annoyed sigh, more like an I-am-too-but-there's- nothing-we-can-do-about-it sigh.  
  
"Hermione, the best thing we can do right now is just-move on with our lives. We can't let h-him (A/N Ok...I'm going to have Ron say Voldemort in this story, but now just wasn't the time) think he's gotten to us. We can't let him control our lives. Do you want to have to regret that?"  
  
"N-n-no, of course not." Hermione answered and then paused, "It's not like it won't be hard though." she sighed.  
  
"Well, I'm sure school will take your mind off things." Ron said with a little laugh. Surprisingly, Hermione laughed too.  
  
After a while, Hermione broke the silence again. "You've changed a lot Ron. You seem so much more... mature." "Mature isn't exactly the term I would use." Ron chuckled, "But I guess we've all changed since that night. Me, you, Harry, even Ginny, Neville and Luna. We've all had a lot to think about. Kind of a wake up call. Ya know?"  
  
"Yeah." Hermione said, her voice drifting away. She sighed half contentedly as Ron's muscular arm tightened around her shoulders.  
  
The wind softly blew in their faces, causing a piece of Hermione's hair to fall out of her ponytail. Ron gently tucked behind her ear and she sighed, and snuggled up closer to him.  
  
"Come on. We should be getting back." he said.  
  
"What? Oh...yeah, right."  
  
So they stood up and walked back to the Burrow, hand in hand.  
  
Author's Note Sorry...short one, I know. A little fluff though. I love fluff. A nice long chapter coming up! New character coming in the fifth chapter too. I promise I'll update as soon as I finish typing chapter 4. So without further a due... please Review! Hey it rhymes! Sorry. Okay. Click the button! 


	4. Isn't It Obvious?

Chapter Four: Isn't It Obvious?  
  
The next few weeks in the Burrow were much better for not just Ron and Hermione, but everyone else in the house.  
  
Ginny was happy to have a girl around, or at least one around her age. She was home more often then she had been before. Instead of going over Luna's house almost every day, she stayed home to help her mother and hang around with Ron and Hermione.  
  
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were just happy that Ron was constantly in a good mood. He talked and laughed now, instead of staying shut up in his room all day.  
  
And, of course, Fred and George were delighted to have something to tease Ron about. Or at least, when they weren't at work.  
  
One specific summer day, Hermione, Ron and Ginny were sitting on the porch, eating lunch. Fred and George were at their store (they preferred not to call it 'work'), Mr. Weasley was at the Ministry and Mrs. Weasley was off with the Order.  
  
"Oh yeah, Ron, I forgot to tell you. Since you seem so keen on knowing when my friends are coming here, I thought I might tell you." Ginny said, a bit randomly.  
  
"Tell me what?" Ron asked, not really sounding interested.  
  
"My friend Rebecca is going to be staying here for the rest of the summer. She's coming in about a week."  
  
"Rebecca who?" Ron asked with his mouth full of food.  
  
"Rebecca Lovegood."  
  
"Any relation to Luna?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, actually. She's Luna's cousin."  
  
"Must be a bloody crack pot too." Ron muttered.  
  
Ginny glared at her brother. "Actually, she's not. You know how I've been going over Luna's a lot lately?"  
  
"Yeah, I don't understand why though." Ron said, causing Hermione to choke on her sandwich from laughter.  
  
"She's my friend, that's why." Ginny said, still glaring at Ron, "Anyway, Becky lives with Luna and we've become really good friends. Luna and her dad are going to go look for that Crumple Horned Snorkack thing in Sweden Becky --err-- didn't exactly feel like going, so I asked her if she wanted to stay here."  
  
"That's nice." Ron said sarcastically as he stuffed his face with ham and cheese.  
  
"You haven't stopped talking about her since I got here. It's like you two have known each other since you were born. Does this mean you'll be excluding me?" Hermione jested with a laugh.  
  
"Of course not!" Ginny answered, "But then again, it would give you and Ron some alone time together. And I'm sure neither of you would mind that."  
  
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Hermione asked. She was blushing a little, but was nowhere near as red as Ron.  
  
"Just take a hint, will you?" Ginny said.  
  
"What hint?" Ron asked quietly.  
  
"When will you two get over it and admit you fancy each other? Everyone knows that you two were like, made for each other." (A/N-Hehe, title lol)  
  
"Oh please Ginny!" Hermione said, "As if either of us would EVER think of each other in that way."  
  
The little hope that had blossomed inside Ron quickly melted away. How could he, for one second, have thought that Hermione felt the same way for him as he did for her?  
  
Of course she doesn't fancy me. Ron thought. She could never like ME. But why did she have to put it so cruelly?  
  
Hermione looked over a Ron's depressed face and sighed. She hadn't meant to hurt his feelings.  
  
But it's true, isn't it? Ron doesn't fancy me. Does he? No, of course not. And I don't fancy him. Hermione thought to herself. Sure, he's been super sweet lately, and so much more mature. But just because I like being around him doesn't mean I fancy him. He's my FRIEND.  
  
But she couldn't deny the fact that she enjoyed every minute of when he was comforting her, or rubbing her back until she stopped crying. Or how whenever she was with him, she just felt so warm and ... happy inside. And happiness was really all she had wanted for the past month.  
  
"Whatever. You can think what you want, but I'm just stating the obvious." Ginny said. Her voice broke Ron and Hermione from their deep chain of thought.  
  
"Yeah... okay." Ron said as he stood up, "I-I'm just gunna go... do my homework." He left the porch and went inside.  
  
"He's been using that excuse a lot lately." Ginny said as she picked up the plates and went to bring them inside.  
  
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, helping her, "He isn't really doing his homework?"  
  
"What do you think?" Ginny asked as they walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Well, I doubted that he'd started yet..." Hermione said, without finishing her sentence.  
  
Ginny laughed as she dumped one of Ron's half eaten sandwiches into the rubbish. "I think that's the first time I ever saw Ron not finish his food."  
  
"Really? I-I think I'm going to go talk to him." Hermione said and she walked up the stairs, leaving Ginny alone.  
  
She ascended up several flights of creaky, wooden stairs until she reached the highest bedroom in the house. She smiled at the familiar sign nailed to the door that said "Ronald's Room". She knocked on the door.  
  
"Ron?" she called through the door.  
  
"Come in." a quiet voice mumbled.  
  
Hermione slowly opened the door and stepped into Ron's room. It was almost like walking into a furnace. It seemed as if every inch of the shabby wallpaper was covered with posters of his favorite Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. She found Ron sprawled on his bed that was covered in a comforter, which was the same bright orange colors of his walls and Chudley Cannons was written across it. As soon as Hermione walked in, Ron sat up and quickly moved a pillow so that Hermione could sit down. She smiled as she sat down next to him.  
  
"Still obsessed with the Cannons I see." she said with a sly grin.  
  
"You know Hermione, I really don't understand what you have against Quidditch." Ron said rather defensively.  
  
"I told you. Quidditch at Hogwarts only separates the Houses more." She replied.  
  
"Yeah, well...what about the pros? They're cool."  
  
"If 'cool' is the only word you can use to describe them..."  
  
"Fine..." Ron said, screwing up his face and trying to find a word to satisfy Hermione, "Invigitating then."  
  
"You mean...invigorating?" Hermione asked, trying hard to suppress her laughter. Not only had he said the word wrong, but invigorating wasn't exactly the best word to describe Quidditch.  
  
"Yeah...that." Ron muttered, blushing. Having this conversation with Hermione was making him feel even worse about the whole situation. This was why she didn't--couldn't fancy him back. He was an idiot, and she was easily the smartest witch of their year.  
  
"Listen...Ron. I didn't come up here to talk about Quidditch." Hermione said.  
  
"I figured as much." He muttered.  
  
"It's just...what Ginny said, I mean...didn't it surprise you?" Hermione questioned, a slight blush growing on her cheeks.  
  
"Well, yeah, I guess so. I mean how could she see something that I only just-erm-that isn't even there?" he finished quickly, having almost told her about his feelings.  
  
"Exactly my point. I mean, you don't... fancy me, right?" Hermione asked, a hint of laughter with the seriousness in her voice.  
  
"No." Ron answered, a bit too quickly. After all it was true. He didn't like her, he loved her.  
  
"It just feels like if either of us did feel that way, it would ruin our friendship."  
  
"Yeah, I-I know what you mean." This is just great, Ron thought. She really doesn't think of me as anything more than a friend.  
  
"So it's for the best. Because I never want to stop being friends with you Ron."  
  
Then, Ron didn't know what came over him. Maybe it was a hormonal imbalance. Or maybe it was because Hermione was sitting so close to him. But the next thing he knew, he'd wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and was leaning in to kiss her.  
  
What am I doing? he asked himself. He quickly kissed the top of her head instead. It was a good thing he was so much taller than Hermione, otherwise she might have mistaken his friendly gesture for what he had really meant to do.  
  
"Don't worry Hermione, I'll never let that happen."  
  
Hermione let out a sigh of relief. At least now she didn't have to worry about her best friend fancying her.  
  
Author's Note- Again, my terrible apologies for taking so long. This is the last chapter that I have all written out. I have half of chapter five to type, and then the rest is in my head. I just realized how I type alike in all of my stories. That's a bad habbit...I think.  
  
I'm watching the Sorcerer's Stone right now. I love this movie! They're all so little! And you can so totally pick up the Ron/Hermione vibes...that is, behind all of their fighting of course. And on TV, they're showing the deleted scenes. It's so much better with them. After they defeat the troll, Harry says, "That was good of you to save us Hermione." "It was her fault we were almost in trouble in the first place." Ron says. Or, something like that. Then Harry says, "Well, Hermione might not have been in there if you hadn't insulted her." And then Ron says, "What are friends for?" And they give each other this look...and well, I squealed. Lol. I really am obsessed. Okay, I'll stop talking now. Please review!!! Oh yeah, flames are accepted. Even from cousins!! Wink wink. If ya don't like it, say so! 


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